Improvement of Speed within the ‘Internet of Things’ suggests a burden that Africa cannot carry. Really???

With the average ten-year time cycle between two generations of communications infrastructure narrowing, several companies and organisations worldwide are accelerating research and development into the technology platforms that will lay the basis for the “next frontier” of mobile innovation. First commercialisation of so-called fifth- generation (5G) technology is only expected from 2020. But 5G is expected to be a simultaneous outcome, and driver, of the ‘Internet of Things’, which many see as the future of connectivity and economic activity.

On the surface, this verdict does not sound good for South Africa and Africa’s place in the “Internet of Things”.

Yet, speed is no guarantee that, in the case of education, for example, everyone will finally learn something meaningful. If there is no commitment to developing knowledgeable citizens whose lifelong pursuit is wisdom, then we risk educating novices – only this time, we are doing it faster.

In the words of Dr Peck Cho, Distinguished Professor at the Center for Teaching and Learning, Dongguk University in Korea, “